Testimonials

Lindokuhle Ndebele

I started at Froggy Pond in 2013, when I was just 5 years old embarking on the unfamiliar journey of Grade One. The memories are a bit fuzzy now, however one detail I will never forget about my Grade One experience, is how Mrs Enslin single-handedly ignited my love for both writing and reading the English language. I can still see her sitting on her chair, as we crossed our legs on the floor of her classroom and listened to the tall tales of ‘Annie Apple’ and ‘Bouncy Ben’. I can still hear her soft voice reading my little stories in absolute awe.  She would encourage me to write more and more. I did not know it then, but she was cultivating an integral part of who I am. To this day, it is the sound of her voice that motivates me, especially during times when I have doubted my writing abilities.

I hold both Girls’ College and NIAA literary awards have also maintained the title of the best English student in my stream at Girls’ College.  I owe a great deal to the strong foundation that was laid at Froggy Pond, to the emphasis on reading, the visits to our teachers’ desks every week so we could battle through lines of text, the dictionary work and the occasional, then very intense, spelling tests!  Spelling is a big deal at Froggy Pond!

Mrs Rennie was the jovial teacher we had in Grade Two – we were fascinated with her “talking phone”, then Mrs Steyn in Grade Three – just imagine a soft spoken, kind and warm ball of fuzziness all wrapped into a single, phenomenal teacher.  Grade Four brought Mrs Kendall, her sense of humour and her jokes. Most people, when they move up a grade, change their teacher, but for us, Grades Five to Seven we were taught by one exceptional educator, Mrs Jassat. If I were to begin relaying all of the particulars that made Mrs Jassat extraordinary, it would take all day.  One detail I must share is the intense passion for environmental conservation that Mrs Jassat imparted.  She explained the term ‘clouroflourocarbons.  When I reached high school I was very proud to be one of the few people who already knew what it meant!

By the time I left Froggy Pond, I already had a sense of purpose, in the form of my new interest in environmental activism.  It was because of the passionate discussions about the effects of human activity, greenhouse gases and the efforts of Greta Thunberg, a teenager who at her young age had encouraged an uproar, protests by youths worldwide with the intention of changing the doomed outcome that would result if things continued as they were.  Notably, I proceeded to join the board of the Girls’ College Green Committee as its secretary when I was in Form Three.  I ended up being Club President in my final year. 

Mrs Jassat enforced the work ethic that has characterised my high school journey. She motivated me, taught me, scolded me when necessary and helped me attain my first Honours award in prose at the Girls’ College Literary Competition in Grade Seven.  I will forever be indebted to her and Froggy Pond.

I remember all our hip hop lessons with Mrs Wrench, Mrs Scales, my first music teacher and Mr Phiri the music teacher who helped me through my final duet ‘Heal the World’.  I shared this with my oldest friend Thandi who has been my best friend since Grade One at Froggy Pond.

I remember Mrs Classen and her tapping sticks, Mr Isselbacher the computer teacher, all my school plays and the leading roles I took in a few of them, especially being ‘Isithombe’ the scarecrow.

I remember all the arts and crafts, the friendships, Mr Chigoya who taught me the recorder and the phrase ‘one number one square, one bottom one chair’ and the teacher who often said it, Nkosikazi Moyo our formidable Ndebele Teacher who was both slightly scary and yet funny and warm all the same time. I definitely recall her lessons on ‘izaga’ and so forth, . 

Froggy Pond, my home away from home, holds a very special place in my heart. Our headmistress Mrs Ross, has often said that our formative years are in high school, and that may be true, Girls’ College has nurtured me in ways I will never forget, however as I look back, when I arrived at high school, I was already well on my way to greatness and all that was built at Froggy Pond.  

A girl from Froggy Pond, a tiny school, grew into the President of the Green Committee, the Vice President of the Amnesty Club, the Mathematics Whiz Kid of her region, the Girls’ College Senior Prefect of 2025, the Best in Biology, Mathematics and English language in her stream, the holder of 19 points at AS level and 10 As at O Level, the list of my achievements goes on, but I suppose the point is that the potential was set at Froggy Pond.